BJP calls TMC's Rs 5000/month aid in Goa an 'eyewash'; questions electoral motives

Hitting out at the TMC over its ‘Griha Laxmi Scheme’ announcement, the BJP on Sunday alleged that Mamata Banerjee was doling out money in Goa for 'electoral gains' ahead of the 2022 Polls. Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Suvendu Adhikari and BJP National Vice-President Dilip Ghosh raised questions on Mamata's promise of Rs 5,000 a month to a woman member of the family in Goa, asking where the money to fund the promise would come from. The BJP also questioned why TMC was willing to give Rs 5,000 per month to the women of Goa when only Rs 500- Rs 1,000 was being handed to beneficiaries of Bengal.

"The promise of Rs 5,000 is a false one, made to bag votes in Goa. The TMC will never be able to fulfil it. The party will meet the same fate it did in Tripura. Also, where is this money coming from? Strangely, there was no word about generating employment opportunities or addressing livelihood issues of people," Dilip Ghosh was quoted by PTI as saying.

Adhikari on the other hand raised the disparity in the amount promised by the TMC in Goa and West Bengal calling it "upsetting" and an 'insult' to the womenfolk. "The TMC that gives Rs 500 to 1,000 to our mothers in Bengal is willing to provide Rs 5,000 for every mother in Goa? Isn't it insulting for the womenfolk of Bengal?" he asked. 

TMC's Goa push

In an attempt to expand its base across the country, TMC has increased its political footprint in Tripura and Goa, aiming to emerge as an alternative force to the Congress. During this process, the party has riled up the grand-old party by inducting many of its leaders such as Sushmita Dev, Abhijit Mukherjee, Kirti Azad, Ashok Tanwar and former Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro. It has also inducted star campaigners like 48-year-old Olympic medalist Leander Paes. Mamata Banerjee is now expected to visit Goa on December 13-14 to hold another round of meetings with TMC workers and address rallies in Benaulim, Panjim, and Assanora. Goa is expected to go to the polls in February 2022. 

(With Agency Inputs)